News, commentary, and insights on adventures, and adventurers, from around the globe.

Thursday, December 01, 2016

A Mysterious Expedition with a Telepathic Tribe in the Amazon

Looking for a really interesting story to read this morning? Then look no further than this article from National Geographic. It tells the tale of a famed explorer by the name of Loren McIntyre, who worked with Nat Geo in the past on various projects. He was known to be a dedicated, hardworking guy who could "surmount all obstacles with ease," according to one editor. He journeys took him all over the world and sent him on many adventures. But one such expedition turned out to be stranger than most.

McIntyre spent a lot of time in the Amazon region of Peru, exploring its many mysteries and plumbing deep into its depths. In fact, he was the man who discovered the headwaters of the mighty Amazon River, which begins as snow melt in the Andes, that then pools into a small lake – now called Laguna McIntyre – before spilling down the slopes of the mountain to begin what eventually forms the largest, longest, and most powerful river in the world.

That expedition was a significant one of course, but it isn't the subject of Nat Geo's article. Instead, the story focuses on an expedition that McIntyre made back in the 1960's. One that he seldom talked about. It seems that at one point, the explorer set out to reach an uncontacted tribe living in the rainforest called the Mayoruna. He began the journey by being dropped off on a Amazon riverbank, and following the tribe into the jungle. But, along the way he became lost and couldn't find his way back to his pick-up point. He ended up living with the tribe for two months, and he says that during that time his companions were able to communicate with him telepathically.

As it turns out, neither McIntyre nor the members of the tribe spoke any common languages, which would typically lead to some problems, particularly over a two-month span. But the explorer claimed that the elders of the tribe were known amongst its members to be able to speak what they called "other language." McIntyre himself would later call it "beaming."

Apparently, the Nat Geo photographer and journalist kept his story about telepathic communication to himself for more than 15 years, not sharing it with anyone else. But in 1991, a book entitled The Encounter:Amazon Beaming by Petru Popescuwas released. It was then that McIntyre finally related his own experiences with the Mayoruna tribe, obviously to much skepticism. That book has now been made into a play called The Encounter as well, which has revived the story once again.

McIntyre passed away in 2003, but his stories are still a bit legendary amongst Nat Geo staff. The article goes more into depth about his expeditions and adventures, including him getting arrested by Venezuelan police. It also shares more about his search for the source of the Amazon as well, although it is his claims of meeting a telepathic tribe in the Amazon that is the center piece to the story.

In reviewing Popescu's book, one editor from the New York Times said this of McIntyre: "[he is] a veteran National Geographic photographer and journalist widely respected for his eye, his prose, and his careful observation, is not one to tell tall tales; and truth can be stranger than fiction.”

I'd say that sounds pretty accurate, and even if his claims were completely false, his life was certainly one filled with adventure. This is a fascinating read. Check it out here.